


Tenacity

by Amoe_Raven



Series: Tenacitytale [1]
Category: TenacityTale, TenacityTale - Alternate Universe, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Original, Canon Non-Binary Character, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Non-Binary Frisk, Original Character(s), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2019-01-18 13:35:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12389130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amoe_Raven/pseuds/Amoe_Raven
Summary: Frisk works towards getting everyone their happy ending. Meanwhile, a new threat visits the Underground.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is the second thing I'll have posted on AO3 in total. Still new to this system, so please tell me if I should add or fix something.
> 
> If you have any criticism, or anything to say about the story really, please comment.

Their bare feet splashed through puddles created by water raining from the cavern ceiling high above. They were in one of the caverns leading to the scenic view of Asgore’s castle, and the city surrounding it. They’d already rescued Monster Kid from falling to his death on the bridge, so he was back in Snowdin, instead of walking along with them.

 _Why do you do that?_  Chara, Frisk’s friend and currently a disembodied voice inside their head asked, a sense of bored curiosity drifting from their “section” of their mind. “Do what?” Frisk asked aloud, eyes concentrated on the ground ahead of them.  _Y’know, run around in those puddles? Why barefoot?_  Chara clarified.

Frisk took a moment to think this over. “Because it’s always different.” They finally replied.  _Huh?_  Their friend asked. “The water. It always reacts differently. As for why I do it barefoot barefoot...I just like the way the rock feels.” Frisk replied.  _...Ah_. Chara said, concern emanating from their section of their mindscape.

Chara too turned their attention to the puddles of water, watching as Frisk did a short hop into the middle of one pool. The water exploded in all directions, and the both of them laughed, marveling at how far the water had spread. They also took more than a little appreciation from the tedium that it had relieved from their lives.

“Hey, Chara?” Frisk asked.  _Hmm?_  They replied. “Do you remember how many resets we’ve done?” Frisk asked their friend, a tone of weariness and morbid curiosity to their voice.  _...Nope._  They replied. “Me neither.” Frisk replied, weariness and a little bit of dispair staining her tone. Frisk continued to walk along the cavern, and the two of them let their thoughts roam elsewhere.

It had indeed been many a reset since Frisk first woke up on that patch of flowers in the Ruins, with a voice shouting in their head, asking who they were. The timelines were beginning to blur together. Was it the last one where they spared Mettaton, or was it the one before, and the last one was one where he died?

Still, they had to keep going, no matter how long it took. “Everyone gets their happy ending.” Frisk quietly mumbled, slowing to a stop in the middle of a puddle.  _We just need to stay determined._  Chara echoed their feelings. After a moment, Frisk continued walking, pinwheeling their arms as they did for the fun of it.

“Have we seen any sign of them, yet?” Frisk asked their companion.  _No, The hallway to the mysteryman wasn’t there this time, and neither was MK’s...clone? Twin?? Person. We haven’t actually seen or heard about anything connected to Gaster this timeline._  Chara noted.  _We haven’t even gotten the call asking for “G”._  They continued. Chara had volunteered for the task of keeping a mental checklist of their encounters with the various people and things connected to a certain W.D. Gaster.

“Not even the phone call? We almost always get that, don’t we? The only other time we didn’t was... when...”  _dust flying alien but familiar throats screaming their final scream grinning smiling reaper of death collecting with ivory weapons-_  A sharp pain in their cheek and a fall onto the hard cave floor snapped Frisk out of it.  _Sorry, you weren’t hearing me._   _Are you alright?_   Chara asked, guilt and concern tinging their feelings, letting the arm they had temporarily taken control of return to Frisk.

Frisk didn’t reply, only curl into the fetal position. They hugged their knees to their heaving chest, and did their best to reign in their emotions. After a few moments, they had gathered enough willpower to reply. “Y-yeah, sure. A-anyway, like I was s-saying, we almost always get that phone call, don’t we?” Frisk asked, not moving to get up.

In fact, Chara noticed rather concernedly, Frisk seemed to be trying to curl up even more. Incidents like this had happened a lot since that timeline, and though Chara had read more than their share of books, none had given them any idea about how to deal with this.  _Yeah._  Chara hesitantly replied, doing their best to keep an eye on Frisk’s emotions in case of another breakdown.

Frisk took a few moments to think this over as they lay on the ground. The grey monsters and other things connected to Gaster had been appearing less and less as the resets continued, but this was the first timeline they could remember where none had appeared. It was concerning, and yet, more than a little exciting.

Frisk decided it was time to try and stand up. The timeline had progressed much further than it usually did, due to them spending a couple more days at Sans & Papyrus (The Inn lady had, as usual, kicked them out after the first night, saying that while they were cute, she couldn’t just have some freeloader taking up a room) working on the same thing they did every reset and spending more time exploring the area around Snowdin than usual. They’d hoped to find more clues about Gaster, but had had no luck.

If anything new had happened, they weren’t going to learn about it by sitting around moping over things. They grabbed the top of a stalagmite, slippery from all the water above drizzling onto it, and attempted to stand up...only for their hand to slide down the rocky spike, and them to face-plant into the ground. “Really?” They asked aloud, while Chara laughed in the back of their mind.

They pushed themselves up off the ground, and patted the dirt and rock off their shorts. They looked around for a moment, trying to place their position in the Underground, and finally took notice of their exact surroundings. In front of them was an enormous lake of water, and beyond that could be seen the capital of the Monsters.

Frisk gazed at the sprawling city, and the castle looming over it, almost swallowing it with its presence. The first time they had seen this, all those resets ago with Monster Kid, Chara, and probably Flowey, it had been an awe-inspiring thing. Now...they felt nothing. Another hit to already flagging Determination.

Chara felt a surge of despair and sadness and weariness from Frisk, which was swiftly smothered.  _Are you alright?_  They asked, though they had already guessed the answer. Frisk threw on a veil of half-hearted happiness as they replied. “Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go SPARE Undyne.”  _Again_ , was their unspoken thought. 

Chara, for their part, didn’t comment on this. Frisk began their walk towards another confrontation with Undyne.


	2. Chapter 2

Around a certain mountain, there ran a road. On most days, no one drove this road, despite the fact that it was the quickest way to get to about five other cities besides the one it originated from. Mostly, this can be attributed to the mountain. Foul legends abounded the region about the looming rocky edifice.

No one ever comes back down. A witch lives in a cave on top and eats anyone who wanders by, or transforms them into her minions. It was where the legendary Monsters were sealed after the mythical War. That last one only being spread by people claiming to be descendants of the original settlers of Ebott City, which had _apparently_ been built as some sort of military fortification in the case of the Monsters breaking free.

Of course, very few of them had any evidence to back their assertions up, and what evidence those scant few did have only dated back a century or so ago. No archeological evidence had been unearthed to support that Ebott City had once been a military institution, despite two decades of work. Today, these “descendants” were grouped in with the likes of conspiracy theorists and people who believe in ancient aliens.

Of course, none of this mattered to the figure who had just slowed their car to a stop in front of the mountain, They were more worried about the matter of a missing family member.

“Can't-believe-those-Jackasses!” She, for the figure was indeed a woman, shouted as she searched around her car. She ripped a sleeping bag off the back seat and roughly smacked the seat in several places, hoping to summon the object she was looking for. Someone was calling her, and if her guess about who was correct, they wouldn’t stop until either the phone died or they did.

Finally, she found it in the glove compartment, though how it had gotten in there she had no idea. She quickly unlocked it and threw it against her ear. “Yallo!?” She shouted into it. She listened to the person speaking on the other end, a man. “Yeah, I made it. No thanks to your “directions” though.” She said, looking around and observing the looming mountain.

There came a response from whoever was on the other end of the phone. “Your directions would have had me drive into the forest.” She listened again to the phone. “I almost drove into a _tree,_ Berry.” She said in reply to whatever statement had been made, grinning as she said the last word. Anyone driving by would have heard some _very_ audible shouting.

She held the phone away from what had to be shattered ear drums, laughing as the ranting and yelling on the other end continued. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry, B. Calm down.” She said grinning, chancing bringing the phone to her ear again as whoever was on the other end stopped for a breath. The person on the other end began to talk again in slightly less audible volumes.

“Yeah yeah, I know, you don’t like the nickname, though why I don’t know.” She said, with the tone of someone repeating an old argument. She listened as the person on the other end talked, laughing as they finished. “It’s not stupid. I made it based on your favorite food.” She said, pouting. There was a couple seconds of silence, and then the other person began talking again.

She gave an weary sigh before replying. “No, the pricks didn’t tell me much, besides that they ran away into the forest during the last break they would have had this month.” She said, glancing around as if hoping she might see the subject of the sentence wandering through the trees. No such luck though; the only things wandering through the trees were animals looking for food.

The person on the other end spoke again. “No, they didn’t say why they would have run away.  If dear old dad is the same as ever though, then I have a good idea why.” She said, stopping for a moment at the feeling of that old familiar anger roaring up. “I swear, if that bastard laid one hand on them…” She growled, and the phone began to give a creaking noise as she squeezed it.

She turned her attention back to the phone, eyes widening in some horror as she registered what her conversational partner was saying. “No, I do not want you to 'deal with them'!” She shouted. “They’re absolute bastards, but they’re still my parents. Besides, that would bring down way too much heat on us and the gang.” They said, turning contemplative towards the end.

She listened to the phone again, scoffing as whoever was on the other end finished. “Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Mr. One Man Army. You might be able to handle whoever gets called in, but us mere mortals wouldn’t.” She said, grinning a little. The man on the phone talked again for a moment, tone jokingly apologetic. “Yeah, I know you were kidding, but still, be careful, you dork.”

“Anyways,” She said, glancing around. “I’ve spent way too much time messing around. I’m going to go look for them. If I find them, I’ll bring them back to the ‘house, and we can figure out what to do from there, alright?” She asked. The man gave his affirmative, and hung up. She gave another sigh, and walked into the forest.

Now that she wasn’t preoccupied by the conversation with her old friend, all the worry, fear and anxiety was beginning to creep back. She did her best to distract herself by searching, but if anything, that made it worse. Soon, she was ripping apart the forest, trying to find any trace of the person they were looking for.

Luckily, she soon found some. She’d accidentally knocked a pile of leaves over and, when looking back, saw something that looked like footprints. She ran back over and took a closer look. Sure enough, it looked like tracks left by the boots that they liked to wear on outdoor excursions, and they led...toward the mountain.

Before she had graduated high school, she’d intended to pursue a degree in history at college, and had suitably studied for it. She’d lived in Ebott City for two years now, and in the region for a lot longer. She knew the reputation that mountain had, especially with disappeared children. This would explain why she took off towards the mountain like the devil was on her heels.

Nononono _nonononoNO! I can’t lose them! I can’t lose the last decent person left in my family!_ She ran towards the mountain, doing her best to follow the tracks that had been left behind. Every so often she lost sight of them and had to run around until she found them again. Soon, these tracks came to a rocky trail.

 She ran up the trail, not even caring that it was more than a little precarious, and that the ground looked less than stable. Soon, the trail led to the opening of a cave, whose roof stretched out far enough that light couldn’t penetrate into it.  The cave was an yawning abyss, darkness filling its depths, an darkness that would like nothing less than to suck in the soul of wandering travelers.

 She shook her head. _I’ve really got to stop listening when poetry knight is going on at the ‘house.”_ She thought, running into head-long into the cave. Soon, she saw vines and other bits of foliage covering the ground, and began to move more carefully. Finally, she came to the sole room of the cave.

 It was nothing special. Just a round, dome-shaped room with vines, plants, and shrubbery covering the floors and slowly snaking up the walls. There did appear to be a hole in the center of the room that the plants disappeared into. _Where are these plants getting their energy from? Some underground water source? Maybe the light reaches far enough in, despite the roof?_

 Before she could ruminate any further on the matter, she saw something that stopped her cold, even stopped her heart for a beat or two. Snagged on a vine leading directly into the hole was a piece of blue and purple fabric. They ran over to it, forgetting about the hole in vines in their haste and worry.

 They took the patch of fabric and looked it over. It did look like it came from one of the shirts she remembered them getting before she left. She looked over the hole, trying to see into its depths. The only thing that could be seen were bright yellow things. “Frisk! Are you down there!? Don’t worry! Sis is coming!” She shouted.

 And with that, heedless of any danger, she jumped into the hole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, comments and criticism are always welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

As always, please a reply with any comments or criticism you may have.

For anyone who can’t or doesn’t want to read it on A03, the chapter is under the cut.

 

* * *

 

 Frisk stood on the rocky cliffside, looking up at Undyne as she monologued for the who-knows-how-many’th time. The fish woman was perched atop a series of extremely huge rocky stalagmites, waving a spear, ranting about SOUL this and SOUL that. Frisk was just waiting for the right moment to execute their plan.

 While they were waiting, they inspected the item that had been stored in their pocket since they left Snowdin. It was a small, wooden sword. They, or, well, Sans had carved it out of a tree they had convinced one of the townies to fell. It didn’t look like anything special. Just a small sword, no longer than a foot or two, made out of wood and painted on by Papyrus.

 Undyne finally paused in her monologue. She turned around, and began to take her helmet off. There was a bright flash of light, and Frisk bolted. At speeds that would make a professional athlete jealous, they charged into the tunnel that ran through the stalagmite Undyne was sitting atop. “HEY!” They heard her shout behind them.

 They didn’t look back, just kept their mind/s focused on the path ahead. They could already see the ‘WELCOME TO HOTLAND!’ sign that was getting closer and closer. However, they soon heard the clanging of metal boots behind them. “Stop! Get back here you brat!” They heard Undyne shout behind them.

 They heard the usual zapping-sort of noise as Undyne materialized one of her magic spears. She threw the first one, which landing right besides Frisk’s foot as they slid to a stop in front of the Hotland sign. They began running down the new path in front of them. Undyne threw a second spear, which stabbed into the sign and a good couple feet into the wall behind it, just barely missing their head by a scant few inches.

 _Here comes the third one_ , Chara commented. Indeed, the air hummed with the sound of power as the third spear came sailing directly toward their head. In one smooth motion, Frisk turned, side-stepped, and grabbed the spear out of the air, all with the air of someone well-practiced at such an act. “Huh!? Just like-” They heard Undyne begin behind them.

 They ran forward a few steps, and then stabbed the spear into the ground. Then, like they had many times, before, they let the slightly bendy spear catapult them into the air. They flew a good dozen feet before they approached the ground. They tucked into a roll, and came up in front of San’s station.

 They got up, casting an glance over to the station. Sans -  _fired another volley of bones at them at unseeable speeds, dodging all but the last one that impacts with the force of a cannonball, impaling them through the chest and carrying them all the way back to the area by the SAVE point, then the flying skulls, with the same eternal grin as their master, blasting with all they have_  - and Frisk lurched to the side as the memory hits with all the force of the bones. Despair and anger and disappointment all writhe within them like venomous snakes.

  _Frisk!_ Chara shouts inside their head, driving a spike of pain through their head. “I’m alright.” Frisk quietly mumbled, and attempted to stand up. Considering the rather shaky status of their legs, this was easier said than done. They almost fell twice, but finally managed to stand up. They looked up, to see that Undyne had moved in front of the bridge leading deeper into Hotland.

 Undyne stared at them for a moment, looking...concerned? “You alright?” She asked, gravelly voiced as usual. “Y-yeah.” Frisk replied, though anyone could have told they were not telling the truth. Undyne shrugged, and stabbed forward with the spear held in her armored hand.  Frisk nimbly dodged the thrust, and jumped backwards.

 Well, they they would have, if they were in more stable condition. Instead they just sorta flopped backwards. They rapidly crawled backwards, and then did their best to stand up. Undyne snapped her fingers, and the familiar green shield appeared over their left arm, though they didn’t really need it.

 Undyne summoned a few volleys of spears -  _and they came down in the hundreds, ripping and tearing off chunks of the bridge the two stand on in their effort to kill them and it starts collapsing into the fathomless depths below and they wonder if she’s become suicidal or is just that willing to kill them_  - and Frisk collapsed again.  _Frisk!_  Chara shouted again, and took control of their body to keep them from being torn to pieces.

 They did their best to dodge, but not even all the time they’d spent in this seemingly infinite chain of resets had made them very great at it. They dodged most of the spears except for one, which slammed into their shoulder, knocking them over and sending them sliding a good fifteen feet. When they finished that fun trip across gravel and rock, they stood back up.

 Gritting their teeth, they ripped the spear out of their shoulder. The pain was horrible, but they’d dealt with worse in the process of becoming a ghost. They took out a CinnaBun and ate it in one go. The healing energy bestowed by the item spread throughout their body, and began healing their wounds.

 _Frisk, you ok? Sorry about taking over like that._  They asked their mindmate. Frisk was still panicking in their section of the mind. Undyne was blocking off the bridge, and, despite how much they wanted to, there was no way they were going to fight her. What to do? Before Chara could make a decision, their phone rang.

 At the same time, Chara remembered that Papyrus hadn’t called them in the tunnel like he usually did. That was...new. They took the phone out of their pocket, the battle stopping as Undyne waited for them (im)patiently. “Hello? Papyrus?” They asked.

 "HUMAN! HAVE YOU, AH, SEEN MY BROTHER?” The skeleton asked, sounding...concerned? Afraid? Chara looked over at the station, where the skeleton in questioned appeared to still be pretending to be asleep. “Ah, yeah, he’s right here.”

 “COULD YOU HAND HIM THE PHONE? I BELIEVE I MIGHT... REQUIRE HIS ASSISTANCE.”  The skeleton admitted. Chara was a bit shocked, to say the least. To hear the normally supremely self-confident and enthusiastic skeleton admit that he might need help…

 “Papyrus, what’s wrong? What’s happened?” They asked, rather concerned. They weren’t the only ones; Undyne was paying rather close attention to the call now too, and even Sans had stopped pretending to be asleep and was staring at them, the lights in his eyes having seemingly vanished.

 “ANOTHER HUMAN STEPPED OUT OF THE UNDERGROUND A COUPLE HOURS AGO.” Papyrus said. Chara felt Frisk’s heart stop and their presence inside their mind actually snap back to attention from...wherever it had been. “THEY WERE COVERED IN DUST, AND. WERE NOT INTERESTED IN ANY OF MY PUZZLES AND JAPES?” Papyrus said, sounding both confused that this was possible and annoyed by it.

 Slowly Chara lowered the phone down to their side. “Papyrus might be in trouble” They told Sans. Sans simply vanished, there one second and gone the next, presumably using one of his “shortcuts” to get to his brother. Chara shuddered. Bad memories with that particular power. “OH! MY BROTHER HAS RETURNED! THANKS HUMAN!  I WILL CALL YOU BACK WHEN WE HAVE RESOLVED THE SITUATION!”  Papyrus said.

 “Wait, Papyrus! You haven’t told us-” Too late. The skeleton had already hung up the phone. They stared at their cellphone for a moment.  _We’re totally going to go rescue him, right?_  They asked Frisk. Frisk’s only response was a surge of determination.  _You feeling up to taking back over?_  They asked.

 _...Not just yet._  They replied.  _Alright, just tell me when you want control again._  Chara said, trying to channel as much kindness towards them as they could. They turned towards Undyne, who seemed utterly lost at these turn of events. “What are you doing standing around?” They asked her. “From the sounds of it, there’s a much worse human than us currently rampaging towards Snowdin and Papyrus.” They said.

 Undyne waited for a few moments, growled, and slowly marched off towards the entrance.  _She’s not going to make it in time._  Chara analyzed.  _Hmm?_  Frisk muttered, clearly distracted and not paying much attention.  _We’ve been standing here for, what 15 minutes? She faints just trying to make it across the bridge without collapsing due to the heat, and that’s only 15-20 feet long. She’s probably gonna collapse as soon as she steps through the entrance._  Chara said.

 _Shouldn’t we go help her then?_  Frisk asked. Chara thought it over for a few seconds.  _Eh, Elder Puzzler will be right there, and there are a few monsters around. She should be fine. Papyrus is in more danger than she is._  Chara decided.  _Let’s go see if the River Person is by the Lab, like they should be._

 With this course of action in mind, they set across the bridge leading deeper into Hotland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uugh. Meant to post this yesterday, but then I fell asleep and now its 2:00AM. 
> 
> Also, been considering setting up an more organized schedule for updates than "whenever I get the chance and am satisfied with a chapter." So, this might not update as often anymore. I've been thinking every other Tuesday. 
> 
> Anyways, please remember to comment if you have any criticism or questions.


	4. Chapter 4

_Several hours before Chapter Three..._

Consciousness came back to her in flickering, stuttering steps. She remembered laying on a bed of golden-yellow and white flowers. A demonic voice cackling somewhere nearby. Water splashing across her face temporarily reviving her. Then, a whip or vine cracking her across the face.

 Eventually, she finally woke completely. She attempted to stand up, moving one arm to push against the floor, when she stopped, gasping at a sudden spike of pain. She clutched at the arm, breathing through clenched teeth. _Damn! Sprained it in the fall._ She thought to herself.

 She pushed herself up with her other arm, which, thankfully, didn’t seem to be injured. She looked around, trying to find any sign of her sibling, or, failing that, something she could use to bind her arm. Sadly, neither appeared in any availability. _Ok, they fell down here and...what? Walked off?_

  _No, that can’t be it. I’m pretty sure I’m tougher than Frisk, and that fall still banged me up. So... something dragged them off?_ She suddenly remembered watching a movie with a few friends from the gang about some idiots going into a cavern system and getting picked off by the monsters that inhabited it.

  _Not if I can help it._ She thought. Luckily, aside from a few aching bruises and stinging scrapes, her legs seemed to be unharmed from the fall. She stood up, and began moving around the room, looking everything over. It was a small round cave, carved away by some force eons ago. The sole point of interest was the small patch of flowers situated on a lonely mound of dirt. A hallway to her right appeared to lead deeper into the cave system.

 She walked over to stand underneath the hole, and looked upwards, raising one arm to block the glare from some sunlight shining onto the flowers. From what she could tell, it was a good 20-30 feet till the hole opened out onto the cave above. _Welp. not getting out that way._ She thought.

 She retrieved her phone from her pocket to try and call Berry for help, only to find that the fall had damaged it. _Just my luck today._ She thought to herself, tucking it back into a pocket. With nothing left to do, she turned to the sole reachable exit from the cave. She walked down the pathway for a bit, until stopping in shock at the sight of the gateway leading further in.

 It had quite clearly been made by intelligent, sentient hands. Two pillars held up an object that bore some sort of symbol. She could vaguely remember it from somewhere, though damned if she could remember where. The symbol was a large circle between two wings, with a set of three triangles below it, the ones on the left and right pointing up, with the one in the middle pointing down.

 She stared at the symbol for a moment in fascination, wishing she had a paper and pencil to draw it, before she returned her attention to the more important matter of finding her sibling. She stepped through the gateway, and instantly froze in shock. In the center of this new room was another dirt patch, illuminated by light drifting down from some crack in the ceiling overhead.

 On that small patch of dirt, was a trail of blood. _Nononononononono!_ She ran towards the small hill, wincing everytime her injured arm moved. When she arrived at the top of the mound of dirt, she analyzed the trail more closely. The blood seemed to be fresh, a bright crimson liquid leading off through a copy of the doorway she had just stepped through.

 _Oh god! What happened!? This couldn’t have been from the fall, or else the blood would have started there. The blood’s still fresh, so whatever it was had to happen recently._ She thought, panicking and heart racing. She noticed that there were tracks in the dirt along the blood trail, as if something was being dragged away…

 She charged through the doorway, finding herself in a small room. Unlike the other areas she’d been to, this one appeared to have been created intentionally. The walls were made of some purple brick, and at the end of the room, two sets of stairs to either side led up to an sort of overlook. She quickly walked up one of the stairways, and found herself in front of a door and windows.

 She ran through the door, ignoring another sign above it, and found herself in another small room. There were what appeared to be switches on the floor, six in all, and four had been pressed already. There was another sign on the wall that she couldn’t read, so she ignored it. She was getting nervous. She hadn’t seen any blood for several minutes, and she wasn’t sure at all whether she liked the implications. _If something happened to them, I’m going to find whoever’s responsible and gut them like a damned fish._

 She walked through the open door, and found herself in a hallway. There were some levers on the walls, though a couple seemed to have been flipped already and held down with some vines. Yet another sign that she couldn’t read was on the wall. She walked to the end of the room, finding several holes in the ground before a short hallway to another room.

 She didn’t stop to wonder at their function, and continued on to the next room. There, something did catch her interest. The trail of blood had resumed, and led through a doorway into a new room. She stepped through, and instantly stopped, heart shrivelling up and dropping into her stomach at the sight before her.

 A giant frog, easily reaching her knees, was there. One of it’s legs (arms?) was covered in her siblings blood. Images of similar _things_ attacking her sibling, ripping them to pieces and gobbling up the remains ran through her mind. She could hear their screams echoing throughout the hallways.

 She thought she felt something _snap._ All her worry and fear and anxiety melted away, to be replaced by sheer overwhelming rage. She retrieved her pocket-knife from its place in a pocket with her good hand, which was going palest white with the pressure she was exerting. She let out a roar full of anger and fury, and charged at the thing.

 The thing, on its part, was too shocked by the sudden noise, and turned only just in time to see the knife stabbing forth. It sunk into the frog-things chest up to the wood hilt. She pulled it out, and the thing gave a choked gasp as it left its body. Before it could react, she was stabbing again and again and slashing at it wildly, all the while roaring like a monster.

 The next she knew, she was sitting in front of a cloud of dust and a destroyed floor. Her arms burned and felt tired, like she’d been using them a while. She looked to the hand holding the pocketknife, to see it stained by dust and blood. She rose on weak and unsteady legs, and looked towards the doorway the frog-thing had been in front of.

 “They can’t be dead.” She said, desperation and doubt staining her tone. “They _just_ can’t be.” She gripped her knife, and walked through the door. Behind her, an unnoticed yellow and white flower gave a malicious cackle, and disappeared into the earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is a bit later then I intended to update. Was doing some last minute edits and sorta fell asleep. 
> 
> Anyways, if anyone's interested or anything, here's the tumblr for this thing.
> 
> https://tenacitytale.tumblr.com/


End file.
